The recipient of the 2024 Research Excellence Award of the European Mineralogical Union is Dr. Jakub Plášil from the Institute if Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic.

Dr. Jakub Plášil obtained his PhD in 2012 at the Masaryk University in Brno. His research activity has been devoted to the structural analyses of complex crystalline materials using X-ray diffraction and precession electron diffraction, giving new insights into the uranium-bearing minerals, nanocrystalline phases in Nature. This led him to describe new minerals. Jakub Plášil’s has demonstrated that structural topology of uranyl sulfate clusters in Nature is not restricted to complex hydroxyl-bearing phases, but also includes structures with corner-sharing between isolated uranyl bipyramids and sulfate tetrahedra. His results on uranium-bearing minerals sheds a new light on oxidation and weathering processes of uranium deposits and has strong implications on our understanding of the mobilization of uranium in the geo- and biosphere.

Over the years, Jakub Plášil has strengthen the European network of mineralogists, in which his skills, as both lab crystallographer and field explorer, are unanimously praised by fellow mineralogists. He was the editor-in-chief (2020-2023) of the Journal of Geosciences, the official publication from the Czech Geological Society.

Jakub Plášil is an exceptionally gifted mineralogist who will continue to make major discoveries in the field of new minerals, complex crystal structures and the environmental impact of uranium-bearing phases. For the relevance and international dimension of his work, Jakub Plášil is truly worthy to receive the EMU Medal for Research Excellence 2024.